the blog posts

i live in a small house but...

image: tiny house blog...Luke Tyler lives in an apartment (a completely misleading word) that is smaller than small; it is tiny. At 78 square feet, Luke has accomplished the seemingly impossible: proved you can live in a walk-in closet.

It may seem as if I go on a bit about downsizing but since I live in a 970 square feet single storey cottage with a husband, two large dogs and two cats, in my opinion, not enough can be said about living with the space we need rather than the space we'd like to think we need. After all, Bermuda is only 21 square miles...

Some years ago, I was involved with the project, Bermuda Homes for People, which sought to build 200 homes - half market, half subsidized - at the east end of the island. At the first community meeting to introduce the concept to the neighbourhood, it was interesting to be told that these houses - the smallest of which, if my memory serves, was 1200 square feet in floor area - were 'too small'. Of course, I was hearing this from people who were unlikely to be the potential homeowners. Needless to say, I received looks of astonishment when I explained the size of the cottage in which I live.

Now it seems to me, if you don't have a house, then 1200 square feet is probably a nice idea. More importantly, though, I have come to the conclusion that 'getting right' the community being built is far more important than the size of the home (except, maybe, if said home is totally lacking in storage space).

But back to Luke. Read his story and see the video in Grist who, in turn, got the story from the aptly named Tiny House Blog. I have to admire the man's ingenuity, not to mention the sheer determination to live in Manhattan. I'd love to spend more time in Manhattan too but, yes, I admit it, I'm not prepared to live in 78 square feet. Luke - more power to you, mate!

urban planner, thy name is ikea

As reported by a number of media outlets in the past month, the furniture-and-everything-else behemoth, IKEA, has submitted a planning application for the development of a planned community in Stratford, East London, UK. When you think about, if you already plan lifestyles, you might as well go the extra step.

 

image: designboom.com

 

As reported by designboom.com, the new community is intended for a former industrial site located just south of Olympic Park. IKEA will construct a 26-acre neighborhood, comprising 1200 homes, a Courtyard Marriott Hotel and 620,000 square feet of restaurants, shops, and offices, as well as a school, nursery and health-care facility.

The urban plan is designed to prevent residents from needing to drive to accomplish daily errands, and includes pedestrian-only streets and zones as well as dedicated cycling routes. Underground parking offers a clean feel to the future district, and some reports suggest that garbage collection will likewise be accomplished via underground tunnels. Read more by clicking on the link above, or follow this link for the Strand East website, and envy the advantage of having a single developer for such rejuvenation.